Wilmer Atkinson Family Papers
Scope and Contents
Wilmer Atkinson (1840-1920) was a Philadelphia, Pa., Quaker journalist and publisher of the Farm Journal. The collection includes scrapbooks containing clippings and memorabilia concerning the Atkinson, Allen, and related families, and a typed journal which Atkinson kept in 1917 concerning the War. The family was involved with Ursinus College, women's suffrage, and Buck Hill Falls.
Dates
- Creation: 1881-1948
Creator
- Atkinson, Gertrude, 1874-1948 (Person)
- Ursinus College (Contributor, Organization)
- Atkinson, Wilmer, 1840-1920 (Contributor, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Friends Historical Library believes all of the items in this collection to be in the Public Domain in the United States, and is not aware of any restrictions on their use. However, the user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status before reproducing. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/.
Biographical / Historical
Wilmer Atkinson was born June 13, 1840, the son of Thomas and Hannah (Quimby) Atkinson of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was a birthright and lifelong member of the Society of Friends. Atkinson was educated at the Foulke Boarding School at Gwynedd and then at Freeland Seminary, which became Ursinus College. He served briefly in the Civil War, and in 1866 he married Anna Allen, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Allen of Philadelphia. His sister, Mary Anna Atkinson, married Howard M. Jenkins, who became a business partner. Wilmer and Anna had three daughters, Elizabeth Allen, Emily Quimby, and Gertrude. The youngest daughter, Gertrude (1874-1948) never married and compiled the scrapbooks in this collection.
Wilmer Atkinson was an editor of newspapers in Wilmington, Delaware, and Norristown, Pa., with his brother-in-law, Howard Jenkins. In 1877 he founded the Farm Journal, a monthly farm journal published in Philadelphia, Pa. His nephew, Charles Francis Jenkins, longtime member of the Swarthmore Board of Managers, succeeded him as editor of the Farm Journal. Atkinson was a journalist and active in social concerns, especially women's suffrage. He died May 10, 1920.
Extent
1.75 linear ft. (4 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Wilmer Atkinson (1840-1920) of Philadelphia, Pa., was a Quaker journalist and editor and publisher of the Farm Journal. He was active in social concerns, especially suffrage for women. The scrapbooks in this collection were compiled by his daughter, Gertrude Atkinson (1874-1948). The collection includes scrapbooks containing clippings and memorabilia concerning the Atkinson, Allen, and related families, and a typed copy of a journal which Wilmer Atkinson kept in 1917 concerning the War.
Arrangement
The collection is divided in two series:
- Journal and notebooks
- Scrapbooks
Physical Location
For current information on the location of materials, please consult the Library's online catalog
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession information
Donor: Edward Jenkins, 1956
The collection was given to Edward Jenkins by Gertrude Atkinson. Gertrude was the daughter of Wilmer Atkinson, and Edward was her cousin.
General
- PG7, Friends Historical Library Biographical/Genealogical reference files Atkinson, Wilmer, An Autobiography. Philadelphia: 1920.
Processing Information
The collection was boxed and inventoried in the 1950s. In 2001, it was reprocessed and a new finding aid created. Related items which had been stored in PG 7 reference file were transferred to the collection, including: Two small notebooks on the Atkinson family, apparently compiled by Gertrude Atkinson, genealogical correspondence dated 1881 of Wilmer Atkinson, and a typed biographical sketch of Wilmer Atkinson by his daughter, Emily Q. Atkinson Ellis.
Subject
- Allen family (Family)
- Atkinson family (Family)
- Quimby family (Family)
- Title
- Wilmer Atkinson Family Papers, 1881-1948
- Author
- SKM
- Date
- 2001
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Find It at the Library
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